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Our Top 10

Best Patio Heaters

For 2018

Our Top 3 At A Glance

This entry level heater from Firefly offers 3 different temperature settings and comes with a weatherproof rating of IPX4. It's perfect for home users and extended those colder nights out in the garden. Affordably priced, with cheap replacement ...

This advanced carbon fibre element based wall mounted patio heater is great for commercial and residential users. It's cheap to run, has an exception area of heat coverage and comes with wall mounting brackets, a remote control and everything you ...

Best Patio Heaters for 2018

Outdoor & Garden Heater Buying Guide

Welcome to our post on our best patio heaters of 2018. We’ll be taking you through our favourite patio heaters of the year and covering topics like; running costs, fuel type, heating type & heat coverage. We’ll also go through the pros and cons of each of these garden heaters in detail!

Update - 13.09.18Updated out of stock heaters and fixed some minor errors for the August 2018 season.

Update - 06.02.18Added new sections: Different types of infrared. Different types of glare. New section at the bottom of the page covering all patio heaters on the site.

We feel the need to mention that “best” is a subjective term, so rather than just produce a list of 10 random heaters, we have created a list of different heaters that excel in their particular field. We’ve based our list on cost effectiveness, style, consumption, popularity, as well as taking features and price into account.

Please do let us know what you think in the comments at the end and if you end up purchasing a heater, come back and leave a review for others to read!

Introduction to the Different Types of Patio Heaters

Before we get started, let’s cover some of the basics of the different types of patio heaters available on the market.

Whether you’re looking to provide heat in the garden, on the patio or deck, or even if you’re a commercial users that require heating in the pub, restaurant, club or smoking area, fear not. There are a huge number of practical solutions to outdoor and indoor heating depending on your requirements.

Different Fuel Types

Most standard patio heaters will consume either gas or electricity. There are other types of heaters on the market that consume bio-fuel, wood (or alternative solid-fuels) and ethanol heaters, but they aren’t “traditional” patio heaters and tend to fall under either chimineas or fire tables.

The vast majority of patio heaters will consume either electricity or gas as their energy source.

If you’re looking for something different, there are a few unique products on the market, we’re fans of the fire table style heaters– although be warned, they come at a cost.

It doesn’t end there, as these heaters also offer different types of heat. Gas heaters will provide convective heat, which means it heats the air around it as well as objects in the nearby vicinity. In contrast, most electric heaters will give off radiant heat, usually via infrared bulbs or elements, be it quartz, halogen, carbon, ceramic or otherwise!

An advanced 3000W electric infrared heater will be able to provide heat coverage for up to 30sqm, whereas a 3000W table top gas patio heater will provide around 5-7sqm of coverage.

The cost of running a patio heater isn’t just limited to what you’ve paid for it and the cost of fuel, be it gas or electric. You’ve also got to factor in how long the heater and parts will last. For example, a cheap gas patio heater with powder coating and no waterproof cover will rust after 1 season, so we recommend that you purchase a gas stainless steel patio heater whenever possible, as these last substantially longer for just a few quid more.

If you’re choosing an electric patio heater (which we recommend over gas heaters, but you won’t always have access to an outlet so we won’t preach!) – you’ll find that the patio heating unit itself will last “forever” but you have to be mindful that the elements or lamps within these heaters need replacing after a certain number of hours. Traditionally halogen and quartz bulbs or elements last between 3,000 to 5,000 hours, while carbon elements tend to last 7,000 to 10,000+ hours!

We’ve given you a rundown of the average life expectancy and cost of the different types of electric heaters below. As a general rule of thumb, the more you pay for the heater, the longer the elements will last and more bells and whistles it’ll come with. Replacement elements will be more expensive but will also need replacing less often.

Commercial users or those of you that need to heat a larger area will do better with patio heaters that use carbon elements, whereas home users may be better off with halogen or quartz heaters.

Element / Bulb Type

Lifespan (Hours)

Heater Cost

Replacement Element

Heating Area (sqm)

Consumption (Watts)

Halogen

3,000 to 5,000

£30-80

£8-25

3 to 12

900 to 3,000

Quartz

3,000 to 5,000

£30-200

£8-60

5 to 15

1,200 to 3,000

Ceramic

5,000 to 10,000

£100-400+

£30-60

10 to 30

1,200 to 4,000

Carbon Fibre

7,000 to 10,000+

£70-400+

£35-120

15 to 35

2,000 to 4,000

Electric heaters are by and large the most efficient of the two, as they convert over 94% of the energy consumed into heat and produce up to 90% less Co2 emissions than their gas counterparts. They also cost substantially less over the course of time than gas heaters.

Features of Each Heater & Suitability

Another thing to look out for, is the added features of each heater. Whether it’s a free protective cover, a remote control, glare reduction or suitability for indoor or outdoor usage.

All of the heaters listed today are suitable for garden or outdoor use and all the electric heaters listed can be used indoors as well!

When looking at protection from the elements, you’ll be looking for an ingress protection (weatherproof / waterproof) rating of at least IPX4, which would indicate protection against splashing water. Most electric heaters come with a rating of IPX4 or above, but some go as high as IP67 – offering complete protection against dust ingress and submersion in water up to a depth of 1 metre! Most users won’t need a fully weatherproof heater but try to aim for IPX4 and above.

If you’re looking for an electric patio heater that can be used outdoors, whatever the weather, then make sure it has an ingress protection rating (IP rating) of at least IPX4.

Different Types of Infrared & Glare, Low-Glare or No-Glare?

Electric patio heaters offer one of three different types of infrared heat: A) Short-wave or “near” infrared, with operating temperatures up to 2,700C. B) Infrared or “middlewave / medium” infrared heat operating at temperatures between 500 to 800C. C) Far-infrared or “longwave” infrared with temperatures of less than 500C.

These infrared heaters are different to the traditional fan heaters that you may have come across, or had to use when your boiler is on the fritz, which provide convectional heat by heating up a coil and blowing air over it to heat a room.

In terms of glare, it’s quite simple – ceramic heaters provide no glare as there are no light emitting elements, carbon fibre heaters tend to be glare or no-glare with light reduction elements, usually gold covered, which increases heat coverage by up to 20%. Halogen and Quartz offer glare or low glare options. Low glare elements are more expensive due to the increased manufacturing cost but may come with an extra 2,000 hours of lifespan.

Heater Type

Infrared Type

Glare Type

Type of “Heat”

Operating Temperature

Halogen

Near Infrared

Glare or Low Glare

Hot / Intense

Up to 2,700C

Quartz

Near & Medium Infrared

Glare or Low Glare

Medium

500 to 800C

Ceramic

Far Infrared

No Glare

Comfortable

Less than 500C

Carbon Fibre

Far Infrared

Glare or Low Glare

Comfortable

Less than 500C

Carbon and ceramic heaters offer a much “cooler” far-infrared heat, making them more practical in commercial spaces. They may cost more but they’re worth every penny.

The Difference Between Gas & Electric Patio Heaters

Most patio heaters use either gas or electricity to generate heat. Electric patio heaters are by far the cheaper and more eco-friendly of the two, as they produces up to 90% less Co2 emissions than a gas heater. They are also less noisy and consume less energy. With the added benefit of being somewhat cheaper to run and purchase than gas patio heaters.

Infrared electric heaters and halogen heaters heat up surfaces (radiant heat), which makes them more efficient than gas heaters which heat up the air around them (convective heat).

Gas heaters may have a lower upfront cost for commercial users that need to heat a large area – however there is a diminishing cost savings when you factor in the cost of gas (LPG/Butane/Propane)

For example, you can buy a 15000W gas patio heater with a 52,000BTU output for approximately £300 + £60 gas tank. To get the same BTU from a commercial electric heater you’d need to spend closer to £1,350 on multiple heaters (a Veito Blade 2000 has 9000BTU’s on full power). So we can say that gas heaters have a lower upfront cost in terms of power output vs initial investment.

However the gas patio heater will consume approximately 1.25kg of gas per hour. This quickly eats into our initial savings.

A 15000W gas patio heater will provide heating coverage for approximately 15-25sqm, whereas each Veito 2000 can provide heat for up to 25sqm. We don’t need the same level of BTU output to achieve the same level of heat coverage.

Patio Heater

Heat Coverage

BTUs

Upfront Cost

Cost Per Hour

Samos 15kW (Gas)

15-25sqm

52,000

£300

£3.08

Veito 2000 (Electric)

25sqm

9,000

£250

£0.29

Assuming you have access to electricity, the Veito 2000 is £50 cheaper to purchase and costs £2.79 less per hour to run! As always there are cheaper alternatives to these two heaters that offer similar specifications, but the running costs will still stay the same.

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Patio Heater?

If you just need a rough idea on how much it costs to run your patio heater — A 2kW electric heater on full power will cost about 30pence an hour (based on an average cost of 14.7p per kWh) while a 15kW gas patio heater costs about £3.00 an hour (based on a 13kg tank refill costing £33).

So we can see an hourly saving of between £1.09 and £1.41 on an electric vs gas patio heater! But this setup will provide heat coverage for up to 142.5sqm compared to the singular gas heaters measly 25sqm!

We’d need to have these heaters running for 990 hours before seeing a saving (vs 19kg tank), but assuming conservative usage of 6 hours a day we’d break even after just 165 days. Each element is rated for 10,000 hours. So if we were to run a gas heater for 10k hours vs electric heaters for 10k hours we’d save between £9,910 and £13,110.

What About Residential Patio Heaters?

Most home users won’t need 52,000BTUs to heat their patio, but for the sake of fairness we’ve shown just how much you can save on an electric heater vs a gas patio heater in a commercial setting. Home users will save even more especially on budget patio heaters.

We’ll do some quick calculations below to show you the difference in price between 2 entry level gas and electric heaters.

Home Electric Patio Heater Running Costs

Total cost over 5000 hours = £1,499.99 Total cost over 5000 hours at 3000W = £2229.99

Our electric heater will cost us £1.001.01 less than our gas patio heater over a period of 5000 hours, or £1731.01 when factoring maximum consumption rate of 2000W.

In both instances we can see the electric heater is about 2/3rds of the price of the gas patio heater. We haven’t factored in transport costs of getting in replacement gas tanks either!

So if you’re looking to save money and reduce the impact on the environment, then electric heaters are the clear winner. If you’re not too fussed about costs or the environment then gas is for you! Bear in mind that the longer you use the gas heater, the larger the running cost difference will become.

How Long Does a Gas Bottle Last in a Heater?

We’ve done the math for heaters ranging from 3000W to 15000W based on different tank sizes for you below so you don’t have to. We’ve erred on the side of caution with this list, your mileage may vary depending on ambient temperature but this table is correct to within +/- 10%.

The result you see below is the number of hours you can expect to get from a tank. To calculate the running cost, simply divide the cost of your gas tank (or refill) by the number of hours. E.G a 13kg tank refill for £33 providing power for a 13000W patio heater will last for 12 hours. £33 / 12 hours = £2.75 per hour.

Price Disclaimer

We’ve listed the latest price at the time of review and will endeavour to update this list as frequently as possible to keep prices in check.

If the price is missing for any of the items below, that usually means that the item is out of stock. If you’re finding that images aren’t displaying properly and no prices are showing then, please disable your ad-blocker as we do not use pop-up ads or adsense on our site.

10 Best Patio Heaters for 2018

Our favourite garden, patio & outdoor heaters in detail!

Now that we’ve sufficiently bored you with the basics, let’s get on with our list of our favourite garden heaters of the year!

This was one of the first patio heaters reviewed on this website and with good reason! It has been the #1 best selling garden heater on Amazon and one of the most reasonably priced heaters on the market for years.

It comes in 3 different “formats” depending on your heating requirements and whether you want it floor standing, wall mounted or baseless. It also comes with a basic level of water protection. The quartz infrared bulbs are rated for up to 5,000 hours of life and the Firefly 2kW comes with a 2-year warranty.

This is a perfect starter heater for the home user that works both indoors & outdoors! Although the heating area is mediocre, expect some heat but not all that much coverage.

You can also get a discount of ~£5 if you order two heaters at the same time.

This is a sleek and stylish weatherproof heater that boasts a number of additional features including a built in PIR sensor which will turn the heater off after no movement has been detected for 5 minutes, helping save you money and the environment. Fear not though, this feature can be turned off so you won’t have to flail your arms around every few minutes 😉

It is suitable for usage both indoors and outdoor and offers up to 7sqm of heat coverage. So it won’t heat the whole garden but will keep users within a ~2.5m range nice and warm with the carbon halogen elements.

For peace of mind, you’ll receive a 2-year warranty from Firefly.

Running costs are very reasonable as the adjustable settings (900W / 1800W) means that you can run this heater from just 13.23p per hour.

It has a solid build which offers protection from rust should you wish to leave it outside and why wouldn’t you seeing as it has a superior IP55 ingress protection rating. It also comes with a weighted base and anti-tip protection.

The Veito blade series is where we start to get serious about our heaters. These are truly some of the finest crafted patio heaters available on the market. They’re so good, that they’re the heater of choice in the White Desert Camp in Antarctica!

Instead of the traditional halogen or quartz element found in most electric patio heaters, these come with carbon elements. Providing superior shelf-life with an expected life-span of 10,000 hours. Each heater also comes with 4 power settings and a remote control, as well as wall mounting brackets (or an optional free stand)

The weatherproof rating means you can leave this heater outside in the elements all year round without fear of damage. Each heater comes with a 2 year warranty and automatic temperature control and tip-over protection.

A perfect heater for both indoors and outdoors. Great on the patio as well as in the garage, or bathroom! They’re also perfect for commercial users and would make a great addition to any pub, restaurant, smoking area, etc, as the superior element life makes the long-term affordability of these heaters a lot more palatable.

The heat coverage from the Blade Mini starts at 15sqm, up to 30sqm from the S2500!

What’s the catch? They’re moderately priced, with the cheapest Veito (the Mini) start at £180 – with the S2500 costing nearly £300.

Fire Mountain offer a range of both electric and gas heaters, but their gas heaters are out of this world – you may have even seen their living flame heater at your local.

Standing at just 133cm tall this heater will output up to 44,500 BTUs – enough to keep everyone nearby incredibly toasty. The adjustable knob keeps consumption between 5,000W and 13,000W, but this power comes at a price, with the cost of running this heater starting at 95p per hour.

This heater comes with a handy undercarriage that can store a tank up to 11kg (although some people have managed to just about squeeze a 12kg propane tank underneath, we wouldn’t recommend anything over 11kg).

We really like this heater from an aesthetics standpoint, if you’re running a business or just like fire then this heater is for you. It does take a considerable amount of construction time, so buyers beware – if you’re looking for a practical out-of-the-box heating solution, rather than a show stopper then we’d recommend an electric heater instead.

This is our favourite pyramid heater on the market. It’s cheaper to run than other a-frame patio heaters and comes with a spare glass tube (which is handy as they are fragile and cost £30+ to replace).

It has an adjustable heat knob that lets you control the consumption up to 9500W (32,000 BTU’s) and comes with wheels for easier mobility, which is handy considering this pyramid heater weighs 25kg!

Other users love this heater and it comes highly recommended on Amazon with 86% of users leaving a 3-star or higher review.

The Fire Mountain living flame patio heater stands at a majestic 2.21m tall and is built from solid stainless steel which offers protection from rusting, although we would recommend purchasing a cover for added protection.

We love these lightweight wall mounted heaters from Futura Deluxe. They’re incredibly versatile alternatives to the Veito range of patio heaters – as a testimony to this fact, they can provide heat just about anywhere you have access to electricity including but not limited to: Bars, restaurants, terraces, they make great garden heaters, patios, summer houses, gazebos (brackets required), garages, workshops, airports, warehouses… etc etc etc.

These heaters have superb heating coverage and are available in a single element 2kW version, which offers heating coverage up to 20sqm, or a dual element 2.5kW edition that covers up to 25sqm for just £33 more.

They’re affordable and have a superior weatherproof rating of IP65! Also supplied with a remote for controlling the multiple heat options available and wall mounting brackets for easy installation.

If you’re looking for a simple table top patio heater that is affordable and provides nearly 14,000 BTUs, then this heater might be the solution to those cold Autumnal nights.

With an adjustable control knob and piezo ignition, you have complete control over how much you want to spend on gas. This gas fired heater is one of the most economical on the market, with the cost of usage starting at just 23p based on a 12kg tank of gas. (If you’re using a larger tank e.g 47kg this heater can be as cheap as 5.8p per hour – it may look a little ridiculous having such a large tank attached to such a small heater!)

We would expect 4-6sqm of heat coverage from this heater, so somewhat worse than an electric heater. If electric isn’t an option, then this is a great and affordable alternative!

Our original review for the Caloray 2k was featured on their website – we were impressed by the ingenuity behind this heater but the sheer cost of it is enough to drive most people away.

This is very much a set and forget heater, that doesn’t offer much in a way of extras. But if you’ve got the money and want a non-intrusive heating solution for both the indoors and outdoors, then the Caloray 2000 could the heater for you!

With the base price starting at £499.99 and extras costing upwards of £135.99 it’s not the most efficient way to spend your money. But over the course of the 10,000 hour lifespan, you’ll be paying just under 5p per hour before electricity – which makes these heaters a lot more affordable than they first seem.

Each heater will provide between 3m2 (20ft2) and 4.5m2 (25ft2) of heat depending on whether it is used indoors, outdoors or in a partially sheltered area. It offers both radiant heat (if installed less than 9ft away from the ground) or convective heat (if installed above 9ft above the ground). The versatility of this patio heater is outstanding.

Providing 6824 BTUs per disc and consuming just 2000W this patio heater truly is a work of art!

If you’re in the market for a parasol heater then we’d recommend the Prem-I-Air 2kW parasol heater. It comes with 3 adjustable power settings and a 5 metre power cable – most parasol heater cables are 1-2m long but thanks to some foresight by the designers, you won’t be struggling to reach the nearest power socket!

The manufacturers claim a heating area of 4.5sqm which is perfectly adequate for a heater of this size.

Lightweight and with fold-able arms you won’t struggle to install this heater or take it down when it’s time to pack-up.

With a bulb life of 5,000 hours and replacement elements from just £5.20 a bulb this heater costs just £0.015 per hour before electricity and only a third of a penny once the initial elements have blown, making it the cheapest parasol heater on the market for long term use.

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